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Sketch of the Military Service 



Major General WAGER SWAYNE, 



Major General Grenville M. Dodge. 



Delivered at meeting of the New York Commandery of the Loyal Legion^ 
February 4th, 1903. 



* CO., PRINTERS, 24 BROADWAY, NEW YORK. 



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tN EXCNAfiGE 



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Mr. Commander and Companions: 

My paper on our distinguished deceased com- 
mander and companion, General Wager Swayne, is 
devoted to his services in the Civil War, and, as his 
commander for two years, it is not only a duty but a 
pleasure to make of record his gallant services, and pay 
my tribute to the memory of my comrade and devoted 
friend. 

General Wager Swayne entered the service of the 
United States as Major of the Forty-third Ohio 
Infantry, August 31st, i 861, at the age of twenty seven 
years. He devoted his time from his entrance to the 
service until February ist, 1862, at Camp Andrews, 
Mount Vernon, Ohio, and other places in the State, in 
the recruiting and organizing of this regiment. 

He was made Lieutenant Colonel of the regiment on 
December 14, 1861. The regiment took the field on 
the 2ist of February, 1862, its Coloriel being J. L. 
Kirby Smith. They reported to Brigadier General 
John Pope, commanding the District of Mississippi, on 
the 26th of February. The regiment was at once 
assigned to the Ohio Brigade, composed of the 
Twenty-seventh, Thirty-ninth, Forty-third and Sixty- 
third Ohio regiments, being the Second Brigade of the 
First Division, Army of the Mississippi. It was but a 
few days before the regiment took part in General 
Pope's campaign against New Madrid and Island 
No. 10. General D. S. Stanley was its division 
commander. In the campaign down the Mississippi 



the regiment took part in taking of New Madrid, 
Island No. lo, Pleasant Point and Tottenville. The 
regiment under Lieut. Colonel Swayne, in a very dar- 
ing reconnoissance, entered the outskirts of New 
Madrid, a point on the river that was occupied by the 
Confederate forces, and controlled by the gunboats. 
It bore a prominent part in the bombardment and 
capture of this town on March 13th and 14th, 1862, in 
which the losses of the regiment were quite severe. 

On April 6th the regiment went aboard the Caron- 
dolet and made a reconnoissance below New Madrid to 
Tottenville, some 1 7 miles, when Point Pleasant was 
taken. 

On April 27th the command crossed the Mississippi 
River and took possession of the west bank, and took 
part in the caiDture of the forces of General McCall at 
Tiptonville, Tennessee, and in the capture of Fort 
Pillow, which General Halleck ordered abandoned in 
order that General Pope's army might assist in the 
operations against Corinth, Mississippi. 

After the battle of Shiloh, General Pope's command 
was moved from the Mississippi River, and landed at 
Hamburg. Tennessee, April 22nd, and took part for 
fifty days in a gradual approach to Corinth. During 
all that time Lieut. Colonel Swayne was in command 
of the regiment, and took part in the actions of the 8th, 
9th and 20th of May, its Colonel, J. L. Kirby Smith, 
beinor jn command of the brio^ade. After the surrender 
of Corinth the regiment lay in camp at Clear Creek, 
Mississippi until the 20th of August, when the campaign 
of VanDorn and Price was made into Northern Missis- 
sippi. At the battle of luka. General Stanley's Divis- 

6 



ion, of which Colonel Swayne's regiment was a part, 
was in the reserve, and the next morning after the 
battle took possession of the town. 

On October 4th, 1862, at the second battle of Corinth, 
the 43rd Ohio, Colonel J. L. Kirby Smith commanding, 
was placed to support batteries Williams and Robinette, 
the key to the position on the west approach to Corinth. 
Early in the morning the enemy opened up with 
artillery about three hundred yards in front, and shortly 
after 10 A. M., led by Colonel Rogers of the 2nd 
Texas, moved forward to assault. The opposing forces 
were but a few feet apart, and fought almost hand to 
hand, and men went down on both sides in great 
numbers. At the first assault Colonel Smith fell 
mortally wounded, and Adjutant Hyles and Captain 
Spangler were killed at the same moment. The com- 
mand of the regiment fell to Lieut. Colonel Swayne, 
who at once, under a withering fire, changed front with- 
out confusion, a movement that would have severely 
tried the metal and steadiness of any regiment that ever 
saw a battle field and, together with the Sixty-third Ohio, 
he is credited with defeating the determined effort of 
the enemy to take forts Williams and Robinette. The 
regiment lost in this battle 16 killed and 75 wounded. 

Colonel J. W. Fuller, commanding first brigade, 
second division, Army of the Mississippi, sa)'s in his 
report: "During the assault on the right the Forty- 
third Ohio was thrown into momentary disorder by the 
fall of their Colonel, and were rallied by the efforts of 
Lieut. Colonel Swayne, and the General commanding 
the division, D. S. Stanley, and they successfully re- 
pulsed the enemy's column, and every rebel who showed 



his head above the parapet of the fort, or attempted to 
enter it by the embrasures, got his head shot off. 
Lieut. Colonel Swayne assuming command under the 
most trying circumstances, soon restored order to the 
regiment, and fought it with the utmost gallantry." 

Of this battle, General D. S. Stanley, commanding 
the division, says: " I never expect to see a more 
grand sight than the battlefield presented at the 
moment. A brigade covered the ridge opposite to us 
and commenced to pour a destructive fire upon the 
Sixty-third, Forty-third and Twenty-seventh Ohio 
regiments. I repaired to the Sixty-third Ohio, and 
here testify to the gallantry exhibited by them until 
one-half their number was prostrated; and nine of the 
officers out of thirteenth were killed or wounded. 
Colonel Kirby Smith and his Adjutant, Hyles, of 
the Forty third Ohio, were both shot down at the 
moment. A column of the enemy, gallantly led, 
moved down the road and planted their fiag outside the 
ditch of the redoubt of Robinette. The two exposed 
regiments the Sixty-third and Forty-third Ohio, fell into 
temporary disorder, but arriving there myself, and 
bravely seconded by their officers, they were soon 
rallied and charged the enemy together, and the hill 
was won in an instant, the enemy leaving the ditch and 
ground covered with their dead and wounded." 

Immediately after this battle October i8th, for his 
services and gallantry, Lieut. Colonel Swayne was made 
Colonel of his regiment, the Forty-third Ohio Infantry. 

Under date of March 13th, 1893, Brigadier General 
D. S. Stanley, U. S, A. (retired), applies for the award 
of a medal of honor to General Swayne for extraordin- 

s 



ary bravery and coolness in handling his regiment at 
the battle of Corinth, Mississippi, October 4th, 1863" 
(1862), and submits a statement as follows: 

" I certify on honor, that I was present, and in com- 
mand of the Second Division of the Army of the Mis- 
sissippi, at the battle of Corinth, Mississippi, on the 4th 
of October, 1862. That at the most critical period of 
that battle, when the Confederates attacked the position 
known as Battery Robinette, the greatest force of the 
assault fell upon two Ohio regiments, the Forty-third 
and Sixty-third Ohio Volunteer Infantry; both of these 
regiments suffered heavy loss in killed and wounded, 
the brave Colonel of the Forty-third Ohio J. L. Kirby 
Smith had fallen, and many of the officers were killed 
and wounded, fust at this instant I came to the posi- 
tion of the Forty-third. I here found the Lieut. Colonel, 
Wager Swayne encouraging his men, by example and 
speech The regiment was cut up so seriously that 
there was danger of a panic. By the coolness and 
bravery of Lieut. Colonel .Swayne, the regiment was 
formed in line, changed front forward, and fought. out 
the battle, and helped to gain a victory. The Battery 
Robinette had been silenced, and the gunners killed or 
stampeded. Lieut. Colonel Swayne coolly sent a detail 
to reman the guns, and by so doing assisted to complete 
a victory won with much bloodshed.'' 

During the first advance from Memphis along the 
line of the Holly Springs and Grenada Railway to- 
wards Vicksburg by General Grant, the Forty-third 
Ohio was on the railway between Memphis and 
Corinth, guarding it. In the celebrated raid of Van 
Dorn to the rear of Holly Springs, and Forest crossing 



the Tennessee River at Clifton, and attacking Jackson 
at the rear of Corinth, the Forty-third Ohio was 
stationed at BoHvar, the rest of the brigade, under 
Colonel Fuller, taking part in driving Forest across the 
Tennessee River at or near Clifton. At this time I 
was in command of the District of Corinth, and upon 
this attack of Forest I was ordered by General Grant 
to take such troops as I could gather, and take com- 
mand of whatever force I could find, and drive Forest 
out of that country. Among the forces that I gathered 
up was the Ohio Brigade, the Tw^enty-seventh, Thirty- 
ninth, F'orty-third and Sixty-third Ohio, a brigade that 
l^ecame very justly celebrated during the war. They 
were under the command of Colonel J. W. Fuller, and 
were driving Forest rapidly towards the Tennessee 
River. To avoid them, Forest was obliged to swim 
the larger part of his command across that river, losing 
a good many men in the operation. I found that the 
brigade was destitute of almost everything. They 
seemed to have been drifting around without anyone to 
look after them. They lacked clothing and equipment, 
and a portion of them were bare-footed. I brought 
them with me to Corinth, and they remained in my 
command until August 19th, 1864. It was about 
lanuary i st, 1863, that I first became acquainted with 
Colonel Swayne, In April, 1863, I received instruc- 
tions from General Grant to move m)- forces up the 
Tennessee River Valley towards Decatur, into Bragg's 
rear, with a view of destroying the immense amount of 
stores at all the stations from Bear River to Decatur 
along the Memphis and Charleston Railway, and at the 
same time General Rosecrans had prepared a force of 



two thousand men under Colonel Straight which was to 
come up the Tennessee River on boats, and join me at 
or near Tuscumbia, with a view to making his cele- 
brated raid to destroy Bragg's communications south of 
Chattanooga. Colonel Straight came to me poorly 
prepared. Six hundred of his men were unmounted, 
and most of those who were mounted rode mules. The 
first day he reached me, at Eastport, he lost two 
hundred of his mules. I stripped my transportation 
and gathered together all the stock I could, but when 
he left me he had two hundred men still dismounted, 
for whom he expected to pick up the stock on the way, 
Forest with his command, was in my front, also Roddy 
and Chalmers, and I pressed forward up the Tennessee 
River Valley, driving them before me, making as 
strong a diversion as I could, until I reached Town 
Creek, giving Straight two days start. In this move- 
ment Colonel Swayne commanded the Forty-third 
Ohio, and took part in the battles at Bear River, Tus- 
cumbia and Town Creek. At Town Creek Forest 
heard of Straight, who had got way south of the 
Tennessee Valley at Moulton, and immediately left 
my front with all his mounted force and followed 
Straight, and continually harassed and fought him until 
Straight was forced to surrender his command near 
Rome, Ga. If Straight had been properly equipped 
and mounted, there is no question in my mind but that 
his raid would have been a success. I was greatly 
surprised when Straight came to me to see how poorly 
prepared he was for such an expedition. After the 
destruction of the Tennessee Valley, and the immense 
stores Bragg had accumulated there, we returned to 



Corinth, where Colonel Swayne's regiment remained 
until the march of Sherman's army from Memphis to 
Chattanooga. Colonel Swayne, in command of the 
Forty-third Ohio, was a part of the First Brigade com- 
manded by Colonel J. W. Fuller, of the Fourth 
Division, commanded by General J. C. Vetch, of the 
Sixteenth Army Corps, and took part in that march up 
to Pulaski, Tennessee, and were posted at Prospect 
wdiere they wintered and participated in the rebuilding 
of the railway from Nashville to Decatur. During 
this winter the regiment almost unanimously reenlisted. 
On their return from their veteran furlough, I directed 
Colonel J. W. Fuller, commander of the brigade, to 
cross the Tennessee River and capture Decatur, then 
occupied by the enemy. For this purpose the Sixty- 
third and Forty-third Ohio crossed the river in boats at 
daylight, surprising the enemy and capturing the town. 
The Forty-third Ohio remained at Decatur, and the 
Ohio Brigade was divided, the Forty-third, Sixty-third, 
Twenty-fifth Wisconsin, forming the second brigade 
commanded by Colonel J. W. Sprague. This brigade 
was in the Fourth Division of the Sixteenth Army 
Corps, On May ist, 1864, the brigade moved with 
the rest of the command towards Chattanooga, and at 
Woodville was put on the cars and landed at Chatta- 
nooga on May 5th 1864. On that day the Sixteenth 
Army Corps took the lead of the Army of the Ten- 
nessee in the movement to the rear of Johnston's army 
at Resaca, and it was Swayne's regiment that at mid- 
night on the 6th of May, captured Ship's Gap, the pass 
through the first range of mountains, and that opened 
the way for us to pass through Snake Creek Gap on 



the night of the 8th, and planted us in the rear of 
Johnston on the railroad north of Resaca on the 9th of 
May. At the battle of Resaca, Swayne, with his regi- 
ment was in the support of the Fifteenth Corps, and 
his skirmishers were the first to enter Resaca. He 
moved with the army, taking part in all that long and 
tedious campaign, where it is said the skirmish line was 
never brought in, and fought at Dallas and Kennesaw 
Mountain, and was in the charge on the 4th day of 
July, at Smyrna Camp Ground, or Ruff's Mill, where 
his division carried the only line of works that was 
carried in that campaign, in the charge taking the main 
works in front of Hood's corps. After the army reached 
the Chattahoochee River, Swayne moved with the 
Sixteenth Corps to the extreme left, to Roswell, where 
that corps built a bridge across the river. Upon arriv- 
ing at that place, Swayne's brigade forded the river, 
the bands playing national airs — a beautiful sight — and 
took the south shore and built a tate-de-pont, protecting 
the workmen upon the bridge. Upon the movement 
of the Army of the Tennessee across the bridge and 
south towards Atlanta, I selected Colonel Swayne to 
remain at Roswell to protect our trains, giving him the 
Forty-third Ohio, Sixth Illinois mounted infantry and a 
section of artillery. The entire supply trains of the 
Army of the Tennessee, were halted at that place, and 
Swayne was selected to take charge of them because in 
such matters he was very reliable, and in emergencies 
handled his men with good judgment. He came for- 
ward with his trains on the 22nd day of July, and 
reached Decatur just as Sprague's brigade was being 
driven through the town by the whole of the Con- 



federate cavalry under General Wheeler. Before he 
reached Decatur, Swayne turned his trains off so as to 
throw them in behind the Army of the Cumberland, 
and thus prevented Iverson's division of Rebel cavalry 
from capturing them, which General Wheeler had as- 
signed it to do, and joined Sprague in his defence of 
Decatur. His regiment took part in the movements 
around Atlanta, which were a continual battle up to 
August 19th, when I left that command. He took part 
in the movement to the rear of Atlanta, destroyed the 
railway near Fairbury on August 29th, and reached 
Jonesboro and Lovejoy Station, where on September 
3rd, General Swayne in his report of the campaign says 
of his regiment : "After four months of labor, dangers 
and experience, without impairing its patriotism had 
exhausted its strength, it welcomed an order finally 
announcing the close of the campaign that had already 
yielded the fruition of its hopes." He also said : "A 
higher tribute is due to the suffering and the dead ; 
the last sacrifice to freedom has been freely made, and 
wounds just less than death have been borne as brave 
men can. Last winter all but a fraction of the enlisted 
men renewed their pledge of service, knowing all its 
meaning. In carrying out that pledge the hard trials 
of war have been met freely but these only have been 
called to show the full honor and devotion of their act. 
They have shown it with their bodies and their lives — 
more than this cannot be written." 

General Sprague, who commanded the brigade 
General Swayne served in during the Atlanta cam- 
paign, speaks of him thus : "To Colonel Wager 
Swayne, Forty-third Ohio Infantry, my profound 



thanks are due and rendered for his untiring zeal and 
never faihng gallantry throughout the long and arduous 
campaign. Such has been his devotion to duty, and so 
faithfully have they been seconded by the officers and 
men that at no time during the entire campaign could 
the)' be found not ready to meet the enemy.'' 

General O. O. Howard, who commanded the Army 
of the Tennessee, writes as follows : "When I took 
command of the Army and Department of the Ten- 
nessee July 27th, 1864, Swayne had risen by promotion 
to the Colonelcy. He commanded his regiment and 
finally a brigade in campaign and battle. He was with 
General G. M. Dodge, Commander of the Sixteenth 
Corps, in the battles of July 22nd and 28th, 1864. 
The first is called the Battle of Atlanta and the second 
the Battle of Ezra Church. He is frequentl)- mentioned 
by his brigade, division and corps commanders for his 
promptitude, bravery, energy and fidelity to duty. On 
the consolidation of the Fifteenth. Sixteenth and 
Seventeenth Corps, that is the portions on the front 
line, Swayne is found first with the Forty-third Ohio in 
the Seventeenth Corps, and later as the senior colonel 
commanding a brigade in General Mower's division." 

On October 3rd, 1864, Colonel Swayne was assigned 
to the command of his brigade. General Fuller com- 
manding the division. He took part in the campaign 
to the rear of x'\tlanta, when Hood made his bold move- 
ment on Sherman's communications and was checked 
at Altoona, and continued his march into Tennessee 
and was finally so signally defeated at Franklin and 
Nashville. This was a campaign of marching rather 
than fighting, and after it was over they returned to 
Atlanta. 

15 



In the campaign from Atlanta to Savannah, Colonel 
Swayne^s regiment was in the Second Brigade, com- 
manded by General Sprague of the First Division, 
commanded by General Joseph A. Mower, of the 
Seventeenth Army Corps, commanded by General 
Frank P. Blair. It moved out of Atlanta on November 
15th and marched to Savannah, but only an occasional 
skirmish disturbed this picnic of the old Army of the 
Tennessee. After the capture of Savannah, with the 
rest of General Sprague's brigade the regiment held 
the important post of Dillon's Bridge. 

After Savannah came the campaign through the 
Carolinas. General Swayne's regiment was in the 
same brigade, division and corps. On January 3rd, 
1865, the Seventeenth Corps was put upon transports 
and taken to Beaufort, S. C, to avoid the swamps and 
streams that the right flank of our army would have to 
encounter by land, and was to join Sherman's army at 
Pocotaligo. This march commenced January 3rd, and 
Pocotaligo was reached on January 14th. As soon as 
the left wing of the army crossed the Savannah River, 
the right wing on February ist moved to Whippy 
Swamp. General Mower's division of the Seventeenth 
Corps, of which Colonel Swayne's regiment was a part, 
found the road obstructed i)y trees, but soon cleared 
the way and built a corduroy road and bridge, and was 
soon across the river on the east side, (^n reaching 
the road leading to Bruxton Bridge General Mower 
developed the enemy in force, and the bridge, a long 
one over the Salkahatchie, he found the enemy had 
destroyed. Mower pushed on rapidly up the river to 
River's Bridge, about five miles above, and prevented 

16 



the enemy from destroying it, but was met by a furious 
discharge of musketry and artiller)-, and here it was 
that Colonel Swayne fell, being hit by a piece of shell 
which made necessary the amputation of his leg. At 
the time he was directly under the eye and orders of 
General Mower, who in speaking of this says : "After 
saving the bridge, I ordered the Port)-third Ohio 
Veteran Infantry to move in and take position on the 
right of the road. While showing Colonel Swayne his 
position a piece of shell struck him in the leg rendering 
amputation necessary, which deprived me of the 
services of a very brave and valuable officer." 

In his letter to me General O. O. Howard pays this 
tribute to General Swayne: "On February 2nd, 1865, 
near River's Bridge, I wrote a letter to General 
Sherman. This letter contained this clause, 'General 
Mower succeded in preventing the rebels from destroy- 
ing the bridge (River's Bridge across Salkahatchie), 
but discovered an earthwork upon the other shore with 
two pieces of artillery bearing upon the road ; the 
rebels opened fire as soon as our men appeared. 
Colonel Wager Swayne of the Fort)'-third Ohio, 
commanding brigade, lost his leg.' That morning, 
February 2nd, 1865, I was moving towards the front 
near the head of the second marching division, when 
Colonel Swayne was brought near to me, as I remember 
it, upon an army stretcher, possibly it was a roughly 
made support put together with boards and joists, as 
some of his friends say. The shell, or fragment of a 
shell, which had so badly injured his leg had left it in a 
fearful state. We were in a grove of pines at the time, 
and I thought that I could ease the position of his limb 



while the bearers were resting-, as I took several piney 
burrs of large size and straightening the limb held it in 
position with the burrs, as you would prevent a gun 
from rolling. What I did seemed to give Colonel 
Swayne immediate relief. He looked up into my face 
with a pleasant smile, beaming expression, and said 
substantially 'The Lord sustains me.' I have often 
said and fully believe that that expression was a key to 
his whole successful career and beautiful life. While 
he was as fearless as a man could well be, he always 
leaned strongly upon the arm of the Lord. His faith 
was simple, but was undoubting and unvaried. Integ- 
rity best expresses the character of the man. That 
remark 'The Lord sustains me,' in the midst of extreme 
peril, when there was hardly a chance for life to con- 
tinue, impressed me so strongly that just as soon as I 
found that he would be willing to accept a position in 
my organization of the Freedmen's Bureau, I sought 
and obtained his assignment to the Commissionership 
of i\labama in 1865." 

On being wounded he was carried back to Savannah 
in an ambulance, with an escort of cavalry, and thence 
by steamer to New York, where after a long time he 
recovered. 

On March 8th, 1865, he was made a Brigadier-General 
of United States Volunteers, and on June 20th, 1865, he 
was appointed Major-General, U. S. V., and on July 26th, 
1865, he reported for duty at Montgomery as Assistant 
Commissioner of the State of Alabama of Refugees, 
Freedmen and Abandoned Lands. In speaking of his 
services in this difficult position, Whitelaw Ried, in his 
"Ohio in the War" says : "Here, through the manifold 



troubles of the reorganization, General Swayne con- 
tinued to bear himself no less honorably than in the field. 
Recognizing clearly for what he had fought, and fully 
resolved that no act of his should help to cheat the 
nation out of the fruits of its victory, he steadily cast 
his influence in favor of impartial justice and equality 
before the law for all. The efforts of the party which 
sought to give these principles punctual recognition in 
the reorganization, found in him a firm supporter. He 
was prominent in their public meetings, and soon be- 
came a civil as well as a military power in Alabama." 

In his letter to me, General O. O. Howard says of 
General Swayne's work : "For nearly two years Gen- 
eral Swayne had the management of nearly everything 
connected with the affairs of Alabama. As soon as the 
new Governor was appointed by President Andrew 
Johnson, General Swayne went to him and made him 
his friend. A little later he came to command the 
State in addition to his bureau duties as Military 
Governor. His thorough knowledge of the law, his 
splendid diplomatic ability, his high character and 
Christian courtliness enabled him in reality to lead my 
other Assistant Commissioners in rehabilitating the 
State so that the whites and the freemen could live to- 
gether in comparative peace and prosperity. It would 
take a volume to set forth what he did. After relieving 
want and establishing good schools, he first saw to it 
that the negroes testimony should be received in all the 
courts of that State. This ended, he worked out in a 
wonderful way against a prejudice and an opposition of 
a most pronounced character. 

General Swayne, contrary to his first expectations, a 



little later found the Alabama legislators anything but 
fair and just. He, General Swayne, said : 'The 
vagrant law of Alabama operates most iniquitously 
upon the freemen. 'In terms the law makes no distinc- 
tion on account of color, but in practice the distinction 
is invariable. I am satisfied that the law would be an- 
nulled if fairly tested. I have taken up three cases 
under it by habeas corpus, but in every case the persons 
were discharged for information in the commitment 
without reaching the merits of the case.' So many 
grievances occurred that even Swayne, with whom the 
good Governor sought to co-operate, was forced to re- 
establish bureau courts in several of the worst localities. 

The "Swayne School" and also the "Emerson School" 
at Montgomery, Alabama, not now found in the United 
States School Reports, were absorbed in the newer 
"State Normal School for Colored Students," which 
gives an aggregate enrollment for 1896 of 809 pupils 
and 20 teachers. General Swayne, my diligent and 
able Assistant Commissioner, aided these schools in 
every possible way. 

The Talladega Alabama Normal School began about 
the same time as that at Tougalos, under the same pat'/on- 
age, and having General Swayne's active and efficient 
aid. Its name was soon changed to college. In 1869 
there were 2 teachers and 70 scholars. In 1896 we find 
Talladega College in full and active operation. The total 
enrollment was 577 students, coming from seven states. 
There are 23 in the body of officers and instructors. 

Just before he died he told me some of the details of 
his operations and felt prouder of his work then and 
there than at any period of his life. 



You and he were always fast friends ; so he and I 
have been from the first meeting- with him in the war 
till unconsciousness of the last few days separated us. 

When my own last hour shall come I hope that I 
shall be as well prepared for a pe^aceful entrance into 
the coming life as he was. 

Very sincerely yours, 

O. O. HOWARD." 

On July 28th, 1866, General Swayne was commis- 
sioned as Colonel of the Forty-fifth Infantry, U, S. A., 
and on March 2nd, 1867, was brevetted Major-General, 
United States Army, for gallant and meritorious 
services during the war. He was retired July ist, 1870. 

Since General vSwayne's death, I have received a 
letter from Fort Sill, Oklahoma, dated December 23rd, 
1902, written by Colonel Charles Morton, who was a 
comrade of General Swayne's in the war. In this letter 
Colonel Morton says : " The first time I met him after 
my return from the Santiago campaign was in front of 
the Fifth Avenue Hotel. I was getting off and he on 
a Broadway car. I met him in the door, he on his 
crutches. He let the car wait, and throwing his arms 
around me, exclaimed God bless you! I am glad to see 
you back alive. I helped him off the car. 

He finally asked me to send him any recommenda- 
tions I might have, and a comprehensive synopsis of my 
service. I did so, and he recommended me for a Col- 
onelcy in the regular army. When I met him again he 
asked me if I had received the appointment. I told 
him I had not ; that I had not received any advance- 
ment ; that I was on the Pacific Ocean when the 



colonels of volunteers were appointed. He touched his 
bell and a stenographer appeared, and he commenced 
to dictate a letter to President Roosevelt, asking him 
to appoint me a Brigadier General. I finalh- demurred, 
telling him that no one could enjoy or appreciate being 
a General better than myself, but my friendly relations 
were such with the President (we were together two 
days under hre at Santiago) that I could not ask him a 
favor ; that I did not want him to think I was asking a 
favor, or importuning him in any way, and while I 
appreciated the kindness of his heart sincerely, I would 
prefer he would not send the letter. He said: "Your 
friendly relations with the President have nothing to do 
with my relations with him, and I am writing this solely 
upon my own part". He hrmly disavowed m\- having 
anything to do with its dictation and sent it. I thanked 
him for his sincere interest in me, and great kindness. 
He tried to dismiss the subject, and finally said : when 
I got up this morning I wondered if I could be of any 
good or benefit to myself or anyone that day, and that 
my call had furnished the opportunity, and I had really 
done him a favor besides giving him the pleasure of 
my call. For many years I had regarded him as the 
great citizen of our country. Disinterested except for 
the best interest of our country, simply a great, pure, 
patriotic citizen. From all of which you my infer my 
feelings on reading of his death." 

After the war General Swayne returned to Toledo, 
where he took up the practice of law, and became 
attorney for one of the competing telegraph lines with 
which I was connected, and won such great victories 
for it against the Western Union Company which was 



all powerful then, that he was brought by those interests 
to New York. Of course when he reached here our 
old friendship was renewed, and we were intimately 
together in both social and business ways. He was 
my personal attorney, and also attorney for several of 
the roads with which I was connected, and it has always 
been one of the great pleasures of my life in New York 
to be with him. 

It is a singular fact that the very last time I met him 
General O. O. Howard and myself were in the Union 
League Club together when General Swayne came in, 
and we all three dined together. Swayne seemed to be 
at his best, and was saying kind things of Howard and 
myself, and told us some instances where the old soldiers 
said kind things of us, and some things that had been 
said that were not so kind, but all interesting to us, and 
much of it new, as it had passed out of our memories. 
We remained there talking until every person in the 
dinning room had left. When we rose from the table 
and were going out one of the gentlemen who had 
been dining there came to me and said : 'AVe have all 
been watching the earnestness with which General 
Howard, General Swayne and yourself have been talk- 
ing, and we all wished that it had been possible for us 
to have been listeners to what you had to sa\-, for we 
know it would have been of great interest. We could 
see that you were talking about old times " 

During all his later life the great interest he has 
taken in the old soldiers is well known to you, and his 
being so long Commander of the Xew York Com- 
mandery gave every one of you an opportunity to 
meet, greet and know him, and I do not hesitate to say 

23 



that he had something more than your respect. I 
beHeve that every one of you had a great affection for 
him. Whenever he spoke to you he had something 
new and interesting, and he never tired of saying kind 
words of you, and of all old soldiers, and doing what 
he could for them. Perhaps no one knew him more 
intimately than I did. I saw him in camp, on the 
march, in battle, in the trials, annoyances and hardships 
that come to a good soldier. He never complained ; 
he was always looking out for his men, anxious only 
for them. I have seen his regiment on short rations, 
without proper clothing and many of them bare-footed, 
but not a growl or a grumble came from them ; they 
knew they would be cared for as soon as the necessities 
of their long marching were over, and their love and 
confidence in their commander was shown when they 
almost unanimously veternized in December, 1863. In 
the war he was the same modest, unassuming but clear- 
headed and deliberate officer that you have seen here 
in civil life. 

He held a commanding position here in New York, 
and as a leader in public matters he came quickly to 
the front of best performance, and maintained the high- 
est standard throughout his career. In social life, 
benevolent and church connections he was always 
trusted and beloved. As a soldier, a scholar, a lawyer 
and above all as a consistent Christian gentleman, he 
had endeared himself to all of us, and all who met and 
knew him. In all the walks of life he was a credit and 
great honor to this Commandery and to our Country. 



